"Knock knock knock—"
With the clear sound of the bell, the gates of Baichuan Academy opened.
One by one, the students strode out, dressed in blue cross-collar long gowns, wearing turbans and straw sandals, their youthful faces already bearing a hint of scholarly air.
It was almost noon, and there were about a dozen stalls set up at the school gate. As soon as the students came out, the vendors started calling out their wares.
"Plain noodles! Hot plain noodles! Ten copper coins for a big bowl, delicious and filling!"
"Wontons! Freshly made wontons, thin wrappers and generous fillings, meat filling and vegetable filling, they have them all!"
"Selling mutton soup! Freshly slaughtered mutton, a bowl of it will warm you up from head to toe, big and small bowls available!"
"Pies for sale! Freshly baked big pies, five copper coins a big one, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside..."
Many students came over to see what was being sold, but shook their heads in disappointment. "It's the same few things every day. Can't you come up with something new? I'm so tired of seeing this!"
Hearing this, the wonton vendor next to him chuckled and said, "How about I change the filling tomorrow? How about duck or chicken?"
"Whether it's duck or chicken filling, isn't it still wonton?" Another tall student curled his lip and smacked his lips, suggesting, "I heard that Tianxiang Restaurant has launched new dishes. How about we go check them out?"
Upon hearing this, the eyes of the dozen or so students lit up.
"Let's go take a look! It's not far, and we can walk there quickly!"
"The food at Tianxianglou is clean, unlike the food from street stalls which can easily upset your stomach!"
"Come on, come on! The view from the top floor of Tianxianglou is beautiful. Let's order some dishes together, have some tea, and compose some poetry. It would be such a pleasure..."
Before he finished speaking, more than half of the dozens of students who had just walked over left, leaving the vendors sighing in despair.
Su Hua glanced at the sky and realized it was too late to go back to Shanghe Village for lunch, so she decided to eat at a street stall. She and Chunhua ordered a bowl of wontons, while Xiao Jinhan ordered a bowl of plain noodles.
While waiting for her wontons, Su Hua started chatting with the wonton stall owner.
"Is your business like this on a regular basis, old man?"
"It used to be alright." The stall owner sighed and pointed to the empty stall next to him. "There used to be a steamed bun stall here, which always had the best business. Not only did the students in the school like to eat there, but the residents in the neighborhood also often came to buy from it."
Until a month ago, a student got a stomachache after eating his steamed buns, and somehow it almost turned into a fatal incident.
The student's family came looking for trouble, and the steamed bun stall owner not only had to pay a lot of money, but from then on, no one dared to buy his steamed buns, which also affected the business of our small stalls..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the wontons in the soup were boiling perfectly.
"Young lady, be careful, it's hot!" The stall owner skillfully served the food.
"Thank you." Su Hua smiled as she took the soup bowl. There were about twenty wontons in the bowl, each one crystal clear. A layer of golden oil floated on the soup, which seemed to be made from chicken bones. A spoonful of tender green scallions was added, making it a pleasing sight.
Beside her, Xiao Chunhua took a sip of soup, then quietly leaned close to Su Hua's ear and whispered, "This wonton soup isn't as fragrant as the ones my aunt and grandma make."
Xiao Jinhan brought over the noodles and sat down, nodding in agreement.
Su Hua found it somewhat amusing; the two of them, one big and one small, had probably become quite picky about food lately.
After all, she mixed water droplets from her space into the water she used at home every day.
Even if you just tear off some vegetable leaves and cook them, the taste will be good.
However, she didn't plan to add spatial water droplets to the mala tang. After all, the effects of these water droplets were quite significant, and it wouldn't be good if someone discovered the clues and traced them back to her. Besides, the spices she had were more than enough to make mala tang.
These wontons actually taste pretty good.
She also tried some noodles, which were just ordinary scallion noodles, not bad, but nothing special.
Of course, regardless of whether the food tasted good or bad, none of the three were wasteful of food, and they drank all the soup at the bottom of their bowls before leaving.
Once on the oxcart, Chunhua lifted the curtain and looked at the vendors outside the school, her little brows furrowing slightly. "Auntie, are we going to run a spicy hot pot business here?"
"What does Chunhua think of this place?" Su Hua raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips.
As the saying goes, dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and rats beget sons who know how to dig holes.
Su Erhu is a shrewd person, and Chunhua shouldn't be any less so.
Upon hearing this, Chunhua thought for a moment before saying in her childish voice, "The food here isn't very good, so not many people eat it, but my aunt's spicy hot pot is delicious, and I'm sure there are plenty of people willing to spend money to buy it!"
"Hahahaha..." Su Hua burst out laughing instantly, raising her hand to ruffle Chunhua's soft hair, "Thanks to Chunhua's good wishes, maybe the mala tang business will really become so popular that we won't be able to keep up with the demand!"
The little girl grinned and patted her chest with her fist, "Then I'll help!"
Su Hua couldn't help but chuckle, "Alright, then we'll all rely on Chunhua..."
Because of the calligraphy master accompanying them, the oxcart didn't travel very fast. Su Hua planned to go to the market to buy some pork bones and offal. The pork bones would be used to make soup base, and the offal could be used to make skewers. After Su Bai's birthday tomorrow, the hot pot business could officially begin.
Moreover, it's her own mother's birthday, so she needs to think about what gift to give her.
She didn't have much silver on her.
The Su family sold snails for a total of eleven days. Although Su Bai kept all the one or two taels of silver she earned each day, she didn't intend to touch the money that belonged to everyone.
The other items included the three taels of silver he received from selling half a wild boar, the twenty taels he swindled from the Meng family, and the box of silver coins that Qin Yucheng sent, which was also worth about twenty taels. In total, it amounted to forty-three taels.
I just spent ten taels on calligraphy and nine taels on spices and herbs.
Now there are only about twenty-two taels of silver left.
Buying a gold item is impractical; perhaps a silver hairpin or a silver bracelet would be better.
Just as Su Hua was lost in thought, her sleeve suddenly moved.
Turning her head, she saw Chunhua sitting by the car window, pointing with her little finger to a small shop not far away, and asking uncertainly, "Auntie, is that Auntie in front of that shop?"
Su Hua stared intently, her almond-shaped eyes narrowing instantly.
Across the street corner, at the bottom of a small general store, a woman in her early twenties sat blankly in front of the counter. Her hair was styled in a traditional Chinese updo, her eyes were lifeless, and her eye sockets were red.
This person was none other than the original owner's elder sister, Su Sui.
"Young Master Xiao, please stop the car."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinhan gently pulled on the reins and stopped the oxcart by the roadside.
Su Sui snapped out of her daze at the sound and quickly rolled up her sleeve to wipe her eyes, but when she saw the girl getting off the oxcart, she could hardly recognize her.
"You, you are Hua'er?"
As Su Hua got closer, she could see the redness in the woman's eyes more clearly. The woman's subconscious gesture of wiping away tears made her heart ache for no reason. She didn't know if it was because of the lingering emotions of the original owner or something else.
Those fragmented memories flooded back like a slideshow.
She pursed her lips and walked a few steps closer to the woman.
"Sister, it's me, Hua'er."
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